Bottle-filling machine.



T. L. VALERIUS.

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 11111.20, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

2 SHEETS-*SHEET 1.

T. L. VALERIUS.

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

TX2 andare/l. l/a uns, @y fw A 4V/@Mr- UNITED STATES ParENroFF-ron.

THEODORE L. ITALERIUS, OF FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO OREAMERY I PACKAGE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-FILLING MACHINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.' 24, 191' 4.

Application led January 20, 1911. Serial No'. 603,619.

To u?! Au-/m-m. it may concern Be .it known that I, THEODORE L. vVA- Liauvs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fortv Atkinson, in the county of Jefferson and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Filling Machines, of which the following is av specification.

Une of the objects of this invention is the production, in a bottle filling machine, of improved means for raising and lowering the bottles to belilled.

Another object is to provide improved means for counterbalancing the weight of the bottle case and its moving means, so that the machine may be operated with a minimum Iamount of power.

Certain features of the invention are also applicable to machines for capping bottles and I therefore do not limit the invention to the form of machine herein shown.

In the accompanying drawings, I `igure 1 is a front elevation of a Ibottle filling machine embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away and other parts shown in .section.

'Ihe embodiment of my invention which I have selected for illustration comprises a framework consisting of two side members l, a pair of cross-rods 2 at the bottom of said frame members and a cross-piece 3 connecting said members adjacent to their upper ends. At the top of the frame is supported a tank 4 adapted to hold liquid, such as milk.

5 are a plurality of valves in the bottom of the tank 4, said valves being suitably spaced to register with bottles in a case. The valves 5 may be of any common or preferred construction, the bottles a in their up- -ward movement opening said valves to permit milk to flow from the tank 4 into said bottles.

Below the valves 5 is a track 6 adapted to support bottle cases A having bottles a therein, the cases A being slidable along said track intol and away from the position to be raised for the filling operation. desired, the outerends of the rails of the track 6 may be hinged as at 7 to the middle portion thereof, as shown in Fig. l, so that said outer ends may be turned upwardly out of the way when the machine is not in use.

rIhe track 6 is carried by a structure 8, supported upon' the frame members 1.

Slidably mounted in a bearing 9 upon the structure 8 is a rod 10, the lower end of said rod being guided by a har 11 having its ends slidable in slots 12 in the frame members 1. To the upper end of the rod 10 is fixed a table 13 adapted to engage the bottom of the crate A to Support and move said crate when the rod 10 is vertically moved.

The means for vertically moving the rod 10 to raise and lower the bottles comprises a lever 14 of the third order. the forward end of said lever being pivotally attached to the cross-bar 11 on the lower end of the rod 10, and the rear end of said lever being pivotally connected with the free end of an arm 15 pivoted upon a rod 16 extending between the frame members 1. The movement of the rod 10 being a purely vertical one, the arm 15 swings to compensate for the horizontal or longitudinal movement of the lever 14 in its swinging movements.

l A shaft 17 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 18 in one of the framemem-bers 1 and in a bearing 19 carried by the cross-piece 3. The bearings .18 and 19 may have antifriction balls therein, if desired. Upon the inner end of theshaft 17 is fixed a crank arm 2O having a crank pin 2l at its free end t0 which is pivoted one end of a vertical link 22, the other end of said link being pivotally attached to the middle portion of the lever 14. As will be seen, rotation of the shaft 17 will cause a vertical movement of the bottle case A.

The means herein shown for rotating the shaft 17 comprises a hand lever 23 pivoted upon a stub shaft 24 fixed in one of the frame members 1, said lever having a gear segment 25 thereon which meshes with a gear element 26 fixed upon the outer end of the shaft 17. Rotation of the gear segment 25 through 90 rotates the segment 26 through 180. A stop lug 27 upon the frame member 1 is positioned to engage the body of the hand lever 23 and also an extension 23a thereon to limit the pivotal movements of the lever 23.

In order to counterbalance the weight of the bottle case A and thus make the hand lever more easily operable I provide a coiled spring 28 having its ends attached to the lever 14 and the cross-piece 3, respectively. As will be seen, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2 the crank pin 21 is in its lowermost position or su-bstantially dead center, and the spring 28 is under tension. As soon as the hand lever V.23 is -swung forwardly slightly, the crank pin 21 moves away from dead -center and the spring 28 exerts its force upwardly iipon the lever 14 to assist in raising the bottles. The hand lever 23 may thus be swungl ,"very easily. When said hand lever is at, the

lower limit of its movement, the crank pin 21 is above the crank shaft 17 and is slightly r over center so that the case-supporting table 13 is locked in its elevated position. -The operator may thus release his hold on the lever 23 after he has elevated a crate into filling position and may place another case of empty bottles upon the track 6 or remove a previously filled case therefrom, as he may wish. When the bottles a have been filled, the added weight of the liquid therein acts in opposition to the spring 28, so that the hand lever 23 may be swung rearwardly against the tension of the spring 28 by the use of only slight force. Briefly, the raising of the bottles is assisted by the spring 28, and the descent thereof against the tension of the spring by the added weight of the filled bottles.

No undue limitation should be understood from the foregoing specitic description, for various changes. within the scope of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A machine of the class described, comprising a framework, a. bottle-case support vertically movable therein, alever connected at one end to the framework and at its other end to the case-support, a hand lever pivoted in the upper portion of the framework, a shaft mounted in said framework, a cra-nk on said shaft, a link connecting said crank tothe lirst mentioned lever, a spring tending to raise said case support, a connection between said hand lever and said shaft for raising the crank as the hand lever swings down, and stop means for limiting the downward swing of the hand lever, the crank being slightly over center when the lever is at the limit of its downward swing.

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combina-tion of a vertically movable support, a shaft, a crank thereon operatively connected to said support, a springtending to lift said support, and a hand lever geared to said shaft and operable to throw the crank beyond center and lock the shaft and support against movement.

3. In a machine of the kind described, the combination of a vertically movable support, a spring tending to lift the same, a crank shaft operatively connected to said support and adapted to be turned to throw the crank 'beyond center and lock the support in either raised or lowered position, a hand lever, and gearing between the hand lever and the shaft.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS. Witnesses:

L. L. MILLER, C. PAUL PARKER. 

